TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2014

CUSTER SOUTH DAKOTA

Being so tired from yesterday's long drive we decided not to leave the campground until 9:00 a.m.  Of course this is equivalent to 11:00 a.m. back in Virginia so it is a good time for us to get up and start moving.  It got pretty chilly this morning with a low of 50 degrees.  The extra blanket really helped last night - we even turned on the electric heater in the fireplace this morning.  See have not need any air-conditioning.  The forecast looks a little warmer for the next few days but nothing like the humidity and heat-index we left behind in Kearney and Branson.

We rode with Wayne and Margaret since our desired route would take us on some extremely narrow roads and through some tunnels that the Volvo simply would not fit through.  One tunnel was only 8'6" wide and 10' high.  I would have lost at least 3 feet off the top if I tried to go through that tunnel!.

If you look at the map you can see that the light circle with a yellow arrow is our campground.  We decided to follow the red route that takes up across the grass plain, Custer State Park, and the Black Hills National Forest which included The Needles, Harney Peak (7,242 feet high) and of course Mount Rushmore.  We drove by Crazy Horse but decided to wait until tomorrow to make the visit.  The outside temperatures ranged between 60 to 75 degrees depending on our elevation and time, I'm not sure where all we are going tomorrow as I laid down to rest almost immediately upon return and the Ladies laid out the route for tomorrow while I was asleep.  I think we might be taking the orange route loop.

I was simply awe-struck by all we saw.  The grass hills were awake with flowers, birds and other wildlife,  The Black Hills and Needles were amazing.  We spent some time in the middle of a Buffalo Herd, saw Mule Deer, Burros, and mountain goats.  Mountain Lions and Bear were probably in hiding.

I took over 150 photos with the new Fuji camera that has a 30x optical zoom and the ability to shoot HD video just like a camcorder.  If you decide to watch the short video clip of the Buffalo please excuse some of the jumpy movements - shooting out of a car window presents some problems.

This was a lot to take in for one day.  But. we absorbed as much as possible before we wore ourselves out and needed rest.  We took Oscar with us - we could not leave him locked in the camper for eight hours.  He was a good boy and behaved extremely well in his Service Dog role.

We got some bad news from Lee & Lea when we got back,  The transmission in  Ol' Blue (their pick-up} had overheated pulling ther trailer through the mountains and they had lost at least the reverse gear.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that they can get the truck back from the mechanic by Friday.  They do have a rental car but I don't think it could even begin to pull their camper 

The brilliant green grass, treeless plains with rolling hills that look like sand-dunes.

The road to The Needles (top) and a view of "The Needles",  Hundreds of rock formations with interesting shapes that like the roadway.

And of course, the Buffalo.  This bull and the animals you will see in the following photos are from a heard that was moving(?) across the plain.  There are about 1,500 wild buffalo in the park.

 Buffalo were everywhere.  The apparently had no fear of us, but unless you have good comprehensive insurance it is best not to get too close.  They have rammed vehicles!

This little Mule Deer was caught grazing on the abundant grasses in the park.

 This picture was made from the top of Harney Peak.  I had full 30X zoom on my camera and was shooting the distant rock mountain and formations.  This is part of the "Black Hills".

 This is one of the narrow and low tunnels we encountered.  The mirrors on a typical pick-up are extremely close to the walls.

 And yes, finally Mount Rushmore in the real - at least for us.  Pictures are good but getting to see the real thing is different.